The in vitro antifungal activity of solvent extracts of Coleus forskohlii, Coleus blumei and Coleus barbatus were compared by testing against some pathogenic fungi like Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus  fumigatus, Aspergillus ruantii, Proteus vulgaris  and Candida albicans . The petroleum ether extract of Coleus forskohlii  and Coleus barbatus  exhibited significant antifungal activity against all the selected organisms. The extracts of Coleus blumei  did not show any significant antifungal activity against the selected organisms.

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Thirty patients suffering from uncomplicated chronic Sinusitis were enrolled in a clinical study to asses the efficacy of Ayurvedic medicine comprising of Tribhvan kirti rasa (Tablet) along with inhalation of steam of Dasamulakwath (Decoction) followed by nasya (intranasal instillation) with Anu tailam. The Tribhuvan kirti rasa was administered at a dose of 250mg b.d with Adrak swaras (Juice of Ginger).Steam inhalation of Dasmula kwath was given two times a day followed by nasya of Anu tail at a dose of 4 drops in both nostrils. The duration of the treatment varied from 45 days to 90 days. Radiological tests were done periodically. The patients were examined clinically in every week to asses the effect of medicine. The overall clinical efficacy was 96.6%. This medicine along with steam inhalation followed by Nasya was found to be well tolerated in general and no side effects were reported. Hence this treatment could be recommended for treatment of chronic Sinusitis.

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Commiphora caudata  (Wight & Arn) is a potential medicinal plant used for its antispasmodic activity, cytotoxic activity and hypothermic activity. Owing to its medicinal importance, macroscopic and microscopic characters of leaves of Commiphora caudata  were studied.

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Siddha is a traditional medical system of India. According to siddha system of medicine, chendooram is a red colour powder generally made of metallic compounds. Mercury is used in the form of rasa chendooram (red oxide of mercury). This paper deals with the standardization of Kantha chendooram . It is a Siddha preparation of 8 ingredients, viz. 1. Purified Lode Stone, 2. Purified Sulphur, 3. Lead wort root powder, 4. Eclipta juice, 5. Lime juice, 6. Milk, 7. Egg albumin, 8. Madar Latex. In this study an attempt was made to standardize Kantha chendooram  which has not been attempted by researchers earlier. Standardization of Kantha chendooram  was in terms of its organoleptic characters, qualitative identification of phytochemical constituents, metallic quantification and in terms of pharmacognostical standardization.

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It is believed Kautilya , whose name was Vishnugupta  and is popular as Chanakya  (The son of Chanaka) wrote Arthasastra . This article is mainly based on Kautilya's Arthasastra,  translated by R. Shamasastry. In the preface of 1^st  to 5^th  edition of this text, the translator Dr. R. Shamasastry tried to clarify the uncertainty regarding the name of the author and the time of the text. Kamandaka and Dandi quotation support the time of this treatise somewhere between 321 and 300 B.C. These quotations also support the authorship of Vishnugupta. According to Kadambari, the author of Arthasastra was Kautilya  and according to Manu and Dharmasastras, Chanakya  had written this Arthasastra . Though there are some controversies regarding the name of the author and time of this text, translator R. Shamasastry tried his level best in providing proper support for naming this text as Kautilya's Arthasastra  as the original available manuscript contains the name of Kautilya  at the end of each of the hundred and fifty chapters of the work. Still there is controversy regarding the exact time of this text. If views of many scholars is considered, time of the text can be placed between 3^rd  century B.C. to 3^rd  century A.D. This translated original text contains 15 books (Basic discussions of the text), 150 chapters, 180 sections and 6000 Slokas  (Thirty two syllables are considered as one Sloka ).

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Solanum surattense   Burm.f. has been largely used in the indigenous system of medicine. A preliminary pharmacognostical study of the seed has been undertaken and the physico-chemical, fluorescent and qualitative phytochemical tests have been worked out and the results were presented.

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Oral treatment with 50 mg Kg ^- 1  day ^- 1  of crude methanol extract of Morinda citrifolia  leaves for 14 days significantly increased the anti-oxidant enzymes, like catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and anti-oxidants like glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid decreased in lymphoma-bearing mice.

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The whole plant of Achyranthes aspera  has been used as remedy for a number of diseases such as dropsy, strangury, cough, kidney stones, dysentery and bowel complaints, According to traditional practice, a kheer prepared from the seeds of this plant is used to treat brain disorders. An attempt was made to fix the macroscopical, microscopical parameters of the leaf quantitative microscopy, physical constants, and behaviour of the powder with chemical reagents and preliminary qualitative phytochemical studies of Achyranthes aspera  were investigated. The phytochemical tests revealed the presence of sterols, flavanoids tannins and carbohydrates.

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The Butanol and Ethanol extract of the leaves and bark of Wrightia tomentosa along with its seven pure component isolates (BLF₂₈ , BLF_29* , BBF₂₉ , ELF₃ , ELF₇ , ELF_17* , EBF₇ ) after fractionation by column chromatography were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against Gram positive (S. aureus, S. fecalis, S.albus and B.subtilis) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris & Klebsiella aerogenes) bacteria and the fungi Candida albicans by disc diffusion method. The extracts and isolates showed different degree of activity against pathogenic microbes. The results obtained were compared with standard drugs Ciprofloxacin (10μ g) and Clotrimazole (10μ g). The isolates of butanol bark extract (BBF ₂₉ ) followed by leaf extract (BLF_29* ) were considerably more effective than the ethanol leaf and bark extract in inhibiting all the microbial strains.

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Chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of the leaves of Abutilon indicum  were investigated for antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli  and Salmonella typhi . Among the various extracts, maximum antibacterial activity was exhibited by ethanol extract (14, 25, 14, 25, 17, 18 mm) followed by chloroform extract (13, 17, 8, 15, 15, 20 mm) while aqueous extract, showed no activity.

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Petroleum ether (60-80°C), chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and aqueous extract of aerial parts of Melothria heterophylla&nbesp Lour. were evaluated separately for anthelmintic activity on adult Indian earthworms (Pheretima posthuma),  using albandazole and piperazine citrate as reference standards. The results indicated that the ethanol extract of M. heterophylla  Lour (EEMH) was more potent than the other four extracts of it.

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The aerial parts of Cissus quadrangularis  L. var-I collected from different soils were chemically analyzed for setting the standard to be of use in Indian Traditional Systems of medicine. Extractive value, ash value, loss on draying, powder analysis, qualitative and quantitative phyto-chemical estimation were estimated.

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Thirty five plants belonging to twenty families were studied for their antimicrobial activity. Among the plants tested, 43 % showed antimicrobial activity. Fifteen plants belonging to 10 families exhibited activity against gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria. Four plants namely Azadirachta indica , Garadenia jasminoides, Magnifera indica , and Wrightia tinctora  showed an appreciable activity against the gram positive bacteria and seven plants against gram negative organisms. Leaf extract of Tabermontana coronaria  showed a maximum zone of inhibition (24 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus  and the leaf extract of Sida cordifolia  showed a maximum zone (20 mm) against Corynebacteriun diphtheriae . Mentha piperanta  gave a maximum zone size against E,coli  (22 mm) and Vibrio cholerae  (20mm). The inhibitory percentage of the leaf extracts against various pathogens were observed to be Staphylococcus aureus  (40%), E.coli  (28%), Shigella  sp (25%), Salmonella  sp (22%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa  and Bacillus subtilis  (20%), Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus vulgaris (17%), Vibrio cholera  (14%) and Corynebacterium diphtheriae  (11%). The results suggested that the leaf extracts of various plants has significant antibacterial activity against the tested microorganisms. The present study is done to compare the activity of the plant extracts with the activity of currently used antibiotics against the selected organisms.

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Effect of Garlic against mercuric chloride induced toxicity in albino rats was studied. Oral administration of mercuric chloride (100mg/kg/p.o) for 30 days resulted in significant increase in LPO Basal level and LPO FeSO₄  induced and significant decrease in GSH (Glutathione) and Vit C as compared to the normal and control group. Simultaneous administration of Garlic along with Mercuric chloride, produced a pronounced neproprotective effect against mercuric chloride induced toxicity in rats by restoring the normal levels of biochemical parameters.

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The present study was designed with an objective to assess the inhibition of lipid peroxidation (LPO) by the aqueous extract of Calocybe indica (milky mushroom) using an invitro model of goat liver homogenate and RBC ghosts. The invitro LPO was inhibited to a good extent by the aqueous extract of milky mushroom and the extent of inhibition being higher in the RBC membrane model when compared with liver homogenate model.

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The occurrence of mycorrhiza in 40 selected medicinal plants was studied. The percentage of mycorrhizal colonization in each of the plant was calculated. The colonization was found to be very less in four plants and very high in six plants. All others showed a moderate level of colonization. The present work suggests the use of mycorrhiza as a biofertilizer to enhance the growth and yield of medicinal plants.

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